Guides › New HSK 1 vocabulary

New HSK 1 vocabulary list: all 300 words with pinyin and meanings

What changed in the new HSK 1

If you studied with the previous 150-word list, don't throw it away: 146 of those 150 words are still in the new level 1. Only four don't appear as such in the new list: 北京, 前面, 后面 and 小姐. So you already know almost half of the 300. These are the 154 words that weren't on the previous list (you'll find their pinyin and meaning in the complete list below):

吧、白天、百、半、包子、边、病、不要、唱、超市、车、穿、大家、大学、大学生、到、第、弟弟、店、电话、电影院、读书、对、饭、房间、非常、分、歌、哥哥、给、公司、贵、国、还、孩子、汉字、好吃、好看、好听、好玩儿、后、火车、鸡蛋、家人、见、件、饺子、姐姐、今年、觉得、开车、看病、可以、课、口、两、零、卖、忙、没事、妹妹、们、面包、面条儿、明年、哪个、哪里、哪些、那边、那个、那里、那儿、那些、男、男朋友、你好、你们、您、牛奶、女、女朋友、女士、便宜、起床、千、前、请问、去年、日、上班、上课、上学、生病、时间、事、手机、书店、睡、说话、它、他们、它们、她们、天、听见、外、外边、玩、晚、晚饭、晚上、问、问题、午饭、下班、下课、小朋友、小时、小学、小学生、新、星期日、星期天、休息、学、雪、要、也、一半、一下、一些、有的、有点儿、有些、雨、元、再、早、早饭、早上、找、这边、这个、这里、这儿、这些、真、正在、只、知道、中文、中学、中学生、做饭

How to study these 300 words

• 10 words a day. You'll finish the list in a month. Going faster usually ends in forgetting.
• Group them by topic instead of following the order of the list, which is alphabetical by pinyin. Below you'll find 10 groups to get you started.
• Learn them in phrases. 喝 (to drink) sticks better in 喝茶 (to drink tea) or 喝水 (to drink water).
• Listen to every word. Recognizing a word on the page isn't enough to understand it when someone says it to you.
• Review just before you'd forget. We explain how in how to memorize Chinese characters.

The list uses the pinyin from the official syllabus, which marks the tone changes of 一 and 不 in words like 一下 (yíxià) or 不客气 (bú kèqi). If you want to understand why they change, see the 4 Mandarin tones.

HSK 1 words by topic

Ten groups with a few words from the list, so you can start with the ones you'll use most. Not all 300 are here: fill in each group with the words you find in the complete list.

The complete new HSK 1 list

All 300 words in the order of the official syllabus. You can print this page: when you do, the menus are hidden and only the list is left.

After HSK 1

Level 2 adds 200 more words (500 in total) and starts requiring handwriting. To see how many characters each level requires, see how many Chinese characters you need to know. If you're starting from zero, the 30-day plan gets you ready to tackle this list.

Improve your Chinese with Macalaoshi Flashcards

Maca Laoshi's app for learning characters, with audio, pinyin and stroke-by-stroke writing.

• 1,300+words and characters
• HSK 1–4by level
• Freeto start

Download for free

Learn with our songs

We made them for Macalaoshi. Singing along is a fun way to practice pronunciation and review vocabulary.

The Lighthouse of My Heart 我心里灯塔

Study With You 跟你一起学

Frequently asked questions

How many words are in HSK 1?

In the new HSK syllabus, published in November 2025, level 1 has 300 words. In the previous HSK, it had 150.

Which words from the old HSK 1 are still in the new one?

146 of the 150 words from the previous HSK 1 are still in the new level 1. Only 北京, 前面, 后面 and 小姐 don't appear as such in the new list.

How many characters do you need to know for HSK 1?

The new HSK 1 requires recognizing 246 characters. Level 1 doesn't ask you to write them by hand: handwriting starts at level 2.

When does the new HSK start?

The syllabus was published in November 2025, and the new exam will be held worldwide starting December 13, 2026.

How long does it take to learn the HSK 1 vocabulary?

At 10 new words a day with daily review, that's about 30 days of new vocabulary. Plan extra time for review and listening practice.

Can I print the HSK 1 list?

Yes. When you print this page, the menus and buttons are hidden, leaving the list with pinyin and meanings.

This guide in other languages: Español · Português · Français · Deutsch · Italiano · 日本語 · 한국어